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Can Certainties Be Acquired at Will? Implications for Children's Assimilation of a World‐picture
Author(s) -
ARISO JOSÉ MARÍA
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of philosophy of education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.501
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-9752
pISSN - 0309-8249
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9752.12157
Subject(s) - certainty , assimilation (phonology) , epistemology , order (exchange) , state (computer science) , psychology , sociology , philosophy , computer science , economics , linguistics , finance , algorithm
After describing Wittgenstein's notion of ‘certainty’, in this article I provide four arguments to demonstrate that no certainty can be acquired at will. Specifically, I argue that, in order to assimilate a certainty, it is irrelevant whether the individual concerned (1) has found a ground that seemingly justifies that certainty; (2) has a given mental state; (3) is willing to accept the certainty on the proposal of a persuader; or (4) tries to act according to the certainty involved. Lastly, I analyse how each of these arguments is reflected in the way children acquire certainties.